What is the Blue Whale Challenge that’s Killing Children

In the last few days, The Blue Whale Challenge has been making the rounds in the news. A child in Dehra Dun was stopped from killing himself. A class 10th boy in Kolkata was not so fortunate and his family found his body in the bathroom with a plastic bag over his head, tied with a cord. Similarly, a student of class 9 in Mumbai jumped off a building, killing himself after uploading a final picture on Instagram.

The internet has been the cause behind the spread of some of the greatest things known to mankind. Knowledge is available to everyone and everywhere. Trends are easy to begin and even easier to become popular with a heavy following. In 2014, the Ice-Bucket Challenge was the trend, and last year, the Mannequin Challenge took everybody by a storm.

But it must be noted, that while the good things have spread, so have the bad. The Blue Whale Challenge is one trend, that should not have spread.

Image Source: Odhisha Samaya

What is the Blue Whale Challenge?

The game goes by many other names such as ‘A Sea of Whales’ and ‘Wake Me Up at 4:20 am”. The game takes 50 days to complete and is believed to be played via the Vkontakte.

The players are asked to complete a list of tasks, that involve

self-harm,

watching upsetting videos and

listening to music as instructed by the administrator.

The players are also asked to wake up at 4:20 am, being a reason behind one of the reasons behind naming the game ‘Wake Me Up at 4:20 am’.

The final task is to commit suicide.

In Russia, most people have committed suicide by jumping off of buildings / bridges or jumping in front of trains.

Some of other tasks include:

Carving ‘f40’ and ‘f57’ with a razor on the arm.

make cuts on the arm along the veins.

The administrator usually contacts people on “suicide groups” (as per reports in Russia). Every time a task is accomplished, the player is supposed to send a video or picture as proof to the administrator.

The game is rumoured to have originated in Russia. The deaths of around 130 teens have been linked to this game. Most people and law enforcement authorities from countries like the UK and Germany still deny the existence of the Challenge. However, a close inspection of all the deaths has shown common links between them, similar scratches and injuries on the body of the victims.

Why is it called the Blue Whale Challenge?

The name has been given so on the concept of a beached whale. Whales sometimes beach themselves and then die.

Blue Whale challenge impact in India

Incidents involving the Blue Whale Challenge have been reported on a large scale in the last few weeks. While some children have been saved, some have also succeeded in killing themselves. Reports say that Children claim the administrator access their personal information and uses it to blackmail the children if they insist on exiting the challenge.